too Else All will be in disorder at once One Act of Faith shall sooner Remove the Mountain than all the Cattle on a Thousand hills Lastly Inference You that have closed with this Truth and having made diligent search do finde in your selves those Marks of God's Elect sit down and take the Comfort of it Let this Joy of the Lord be your strength Eat your bread and drink your wine or Water either with a Merry heart since God hath accepted you If David's heart was so taken with that love which chose him to be King afore the house of Saul how should our Souls be rapt into the third Heaven That We poor unworthy wretched We should be taken into that peculiar favour in which the generality of Men have nothing to do How should it affect our hearts Art thou of those who are Wise or Noble according to the flesh Be filled with an holy Amazement and exultation Rejoyce with trembling That the Great GOD to whom thou wast no more than others thy Consorts that are left and who commonly Chooses the base and foolish thereby to Magnifie His Grace should thus go out of His way to call in thee And hath also made His Call effectual to thee even then when thou wast inviron'd with a world of temptations to obstruct it And if thou be a Man of low degree poor weak foolish of no account among Men even as one that is Not and hath the Lord regarded thee in thy low estate and Magnified thee by setting His love upon thee Hath He taken thee from the dunghill to set thee among Princes even the Princes of the World to come This is that Exaltation which the poor should always Rejoyce in according to James 1. 9. Were you the head instead of being the tail Were the Necks of your enemies under your feet yea were the Devils themselves made subject to you It could not afford you the thousandth part of that Cause of Rejoycing as that your Names are written in Heaven Are other men prosperous in the world and free from trouble whiles you are reduc'd to a low estate and chastened every Morning Have perhaps but an handful of Meal and a little oyl in a Cruze c. yet think not your Portion Mean or hardly dealt out your good things are to come They are growing in the other World And at the time of harvest the Lord will send his Angels for you yea your Lord Himself will come and fetch you thither And you shall be for ever with Him In whose presence is fulness of joy and at whose Right hand are Rivers of pleasures for evermore And then you will Sing The lines are fallen to me in pleasant places At least say so Now. As Abraham dealt by his Concubines children so doth God by the Ishmaels of the world He gives them portions and sends them away But the Inheritance He reserves for His Isaacs To them He gives all that He hath yea even Himself And what can we have more OF REDEMPTION IN this Point we are equally concern'd with that of Election as the Great Comprehensive Means of bringing-about the Greatest End viz. the Glory of God in the Salvation of His Chosen That our Lord Jesus Christ hath a Body or Church to whom He is Head and Saviour is not supposed a Question But Who they are that do make-up this Body Whether the Whole of Mankind universally or Some particular Persons Whether He had in His death the same respect to All as to Some And whether Any of those he died for may miss of the benefits accruing by His death are questions of great Import and worthy a serious deliberation To Resolve which is the scope of the present Discourse The Substance whereof is in three Positions I. That the Body or Church of Christ consists of Elect Persons II. That for These it was that He laid down His life III. That the intent of His death cannot be frustrate For the I of These By this Body or Church of Christ I understand the Designed Subjects of his Spiritual Kingdom or Members of His Mystical Body to whom He was appointed by the Father to be Head and Saviour and They to stand related to Him as their Prophet Priest and King Which threefold office He bears peculiâ—rly towards the Elect The Church of the First-born and heirs of the World to come And of These doth His Body consist i. e. It is made-up of These exclusive to Others Their number is certain and intire and cannot be broken either by Addition or Diminution Of this the Tabernacle was a figure 1. In respect of its Symmetry or Proportion of parts which induced a singular beauty upon it Towards which Nothing could be added nor any thing abated 2. In that all the parts and Dimensions thereof were predetermined of God and not left in the least to humane Arbitrement or Contingency And these are expresly said to be Patterns of things in the Heavens Heb. 9. 23. ch 12. 23. that is Of the Heavenly Temple or Church of the First-born which are written There This Couclusion is drawn from sueh premises as these 1. In that our Lord and Saviour so manifestly shews Himself concern'd for the Elect as having some peculiar Interest and Propriety in them and charge of them With These his delights were from Everlasting Prov. 8. And as soon as they were actually in being He began His actual Converses with them and therein did even confine Himself to the Elect Seed With what unbelievable Patience and Goodness did He superintend the Church or Elect Nation Aâ—ts 7. 46 48. fourty years together in the Wilderness bearing them as on Eagles wings and tendring them as the Apple of His eye And when he dwelt upon Earth He went not beyond the bounds of the Holy Land where also all His delight was among the Saints Ps 16. 3. These He made his Consorts and Men of His Councel And when ye find Him with others it was for the Elect's sake that were among them How frequently and with what well-pleasedness doth He speak of These Professing His love to them and that according to the highest patern John 15. 9. As the Father bath loved Me so have I loved you And how great things He would do for them Not to the Halfing of His Kingdom Joh. 10. 15 16. ch 6. 40. but the laying down of His life for them Gathering them in Raising them up and giving them to sit with Him in His Throne Rev. 3. 21. But for the World He takes litle notice of them except with a kind of contempt and comination Let them alone Shake off the dust off your feet Joh. 7. 34. Give not that which is holy unto dogs c. Yea though they seek Him they shall not find Him Isa 65. 1. But for His Elect He is found of them even whiles they think not of Him The Instances of Matthew the Woman of Samaria the possessed
Gadaren His People at Corinth are Records of it And all this because These are His Portion and the lot of His Inheritance Deut. 32. 9 10. As Christ our Head is not of this World so neither is his Kingdom nor the Subjects of it It is true The Father hath given Christ to be Head over All But His Headship over Men in general and His Headship over the Church have a far different respect and consideration He is God of the whole Earth but Jeshurun's God in a way peculiar to His Chosen Deut. 33. 26. Isa 44. 2. An Headship of Dominion He hath over Rebels And service He hath from them though they think not so nor intend any thing less Nebuchadnezzar was His hired Days-man against Tyre Ezek. 29. 18. Isa 45. 1. Ps 60. 8. and Cyrus against Babylon whose right hand He held though they knew Him not So Moab was his Washpot But for the Elect they are His natural Subjects though not naturally so They are His by another title and to another End and so intimate is the Relation between Him and Them that they are said to be Of His flesh Eph. 5. 30. and of His bones They both have one Soul and Spirit He and They make one perfect Man ch 4. 13. That the whole World is put in subjection to Christ is for the Elect's sake the power He hath over others is in order to their Salvation Eph. 1. 22. He is Head over all things to the Church that is To Subject Dispose and Order all for the Church's good As in the seventeenth of John He is said to have power over all flesh that He might give eternal life not to all He hath power over but to as many as the Father had given Him Which Giving imports Election as going afore it And therefore He says in v. 6. I have manifested thy name to the Men which Thou gavest me out of the World Thine they were that is by Election and Thou gavest them Me It may be said of them as in Heb. 10. 5. A Body hast thou prepared Me which though chiefly intended there of His humane Natute as true it is of His Body Mystical Ps 139. 16. All the Members of which were written in God's book of Election when as yet there was none of them He therefore prays for These as a party distinct from the World and Given to him for an higher End as appears by comparing the 2 6 9 21 24 26 verses of that 17 John II. We find That Church and Elect are but two several Titles of the same persons in a several respect Elect as Chosen of God to Salvation and so they are called The Church of God and said to be Sanctified by God the Father Jude v. 1. And the Church of Christ as given or committed to Him by the Father in order to that Salvation John 17. 6. It was this Church to whom the Apostles inscribed their Epistles where we find them sometimes intit'led Beloved of God Rom. 1. 7. Sometimes The Church of God and Sanctified in Christ 1 Cor. 1. 2. At other times Saints and Faithful Brethren in Christ Col. 1. 2. Then Churches of the Saints 1 Cor. 14. 33. And Church of the First-born Heb. 12. 23. And sometime expresly Elect 1 Pet. 1. 2. By all which is signified That the Church of Christ consists of Elect persons That these various Appellations are but so many terms indifferently used about the same Subject and All as Notes of distinction from the World When Christ shall appear in His Glory then shall His Members be gathered to Him Zach. 14. 5. The Lord my God shall come and all the Saints with thee And Paul diseoursing the same thing says They that are Christ's at His coming 1 Cor. 15. 23. which shews That they are Christ's so as Others are not And that it is meant of Elect persons appears by our Saviour's own words when speaking of that His Coming and of the same Persons who are said to be His and to come with Him He gives them expresly That Denomination He shall send forth His Angels and they shall gather together His Elect Mat. 24. 33. But as for the Rest of the Dead they lived not again till a Thousand years after Rev. 20. 5. Therefore these Rest were no part of This Body It may also be noted That those who did not Rise with the Saints are specified here by the same Word or Note of distinction as Those Not-Elected are in Rom. 11. The Election hath obtained and the Rest were blinded v. 7. And that Those who had part in the first Resurrection are the same persons that are written in the Lamb's book of life is evident by comparing Rev. 20. 4. with chap. 13. 8. III. It was of Necessity that the Body or Church of Christ should be composed of the Elect Seed 1. Because none else were fit to be of this Body but such as should be like the Head of it Carnal Members would be as uncomely to a Spiritual Head as one of the Brutes to be Adam's companion The King 's Daughterelect to make her a suitable match for his Son must be all-glorious within Not only of the same outward metal for so were those other Creatures with Adam but made in the same Mould and indued with the same Spirit and Understanding There must be a congruity in all the parts throughout They must be copies of Him each one resembling the Children of a King Judg. 8. 18. If the Head be Heavenly so must the Members They cannot walk together if not thus agreed 2. This likeness to Christ is proper to the Elect It 's a Royal priviledge intailed upon them and cannot descend or Revert to any out of that line That this likeness to Christ is requisite to all His Members and also peculiar to Elect Persons are both attested in Rom. 8. 29. Whom He did fore know He also did Predestinate to be conformed to the Image of His Son that He might be the First-born among many Brethren Which implies that the Fore-known or Elect only are predestinate thereto and that were it not for Predestination the First-born should have but a thin Assembly to Preside amongst indeed nothing but blanks for His great adventure and long expectation In Eph. 1. 3 4 5. he further appropriates those Spiritual blessings by which Men are conformed to Christ to the same persons Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly things in Christ According as He hath Chosen us in Him Having Predestinated us to the Adoption of Children c. By these two Scriptures it appears that God's Children and Christ's Brethren are the same persons and that they were made so by Election But are Christ's Brethren and His Church the same Persons Take your solution from Hebr. 2. 12. I will declare thy Name unto my Brethren In the midst of the Church will I
sing praise unto Thee 3. This likeness to Christ is not attainable by any without first being in Him as their Head For which cause the Elect were Chosen in Him Eph. 1. 4. It is out of Christ's fulness that all Grace is received and in order to that Reception there must be Vnion The branch cannot bear fruit of it self Joh. 15. nor indeed be a branch unless it grow out of the Vine For which cause and end the designed Members of His Body were seperated from their wild Olive root and put into Christ by Election And hereby they are made partakers of the fatness of that Heavenly Root i. e. of the Spirit of Christ which is called the Anointing in 1 Joh. 2. 27. In this respect the First and Second Adams are set-forth as paralels touching headship to their respective Bodies As from Adam their natural Head all Mankind have derived their natural being So from Christ their Spiritual Head do all the Elect Seed receive their Spiritual being and Nature On which account he is stiled The everlasting Father and They His Children Isa 9. 6. Heb. 2. 13. They were all in Christ from Eternity in as just but spiritual a Reality as Mankind in Adam or Levi in Abraham's loyns when Melchisedee met him Eve's production as to the manner of it was paternal of this She was made of Adam's substance but she came not out of his loyns but out of his Side So is the New Creature extracted out of Christ's They are bone of His bones and flesh of his flesh Gen. 2. 21-23 spiritually understood And none can thus proceed from Him but such as were in Him Decretively by Election Men are blessed with these spiritual blessings as being in Christ and not otherwise Eph. 1. 4. Tit. 3. 5 6. Inferences I. Infer 1. We gather hence the honourable and safe estate of the Church which hath the Son of God to be Head and Saviour of it II. Infer 2. Let no Man pretend to this honourable Relation without something to shew for it by which he may avouch his Membership to Christ The currentest mark and â—vidence whereof will be your conformity not to Men or Self but to Christ Jesus your Head It is that must denominate you Christians indeed At latter day Christ will know None but who have made their Robes white in the blood of the Lamb. All Hang-by's and Ivy-claspers will then be shook off and no One retain'd but such as have His substance in them Many shall come and plead their works What they have been and what they have done and their old hypocrisie will be so Immovable and Impudent that they l even expostulate the matter with Him Mat. 7. 22. Have not we Prophecied in thy Name and in thy Name cast out Devils and done many wonderful works c. Of whom our Lord will profess ver 23. That He knows them not No nor Never knew them He knows His own by their likeness to Him He knows and cannot but know the Members of His Body My sheep I know but who are ye will He then say to all that are but professing Members of Him Which will be indeed a Doleful conclusion of their groundless though specious Confidence Look to it therefore in time III. Infer 3. Let those who are really of this Body bear themselves worthily both towards their Head and Fellow-Members And let That be your badge of distinction from Christians meerly Nominal 1. Own the Supremacy of your Head by giving Him the Preheminence in all things Call no Man on Earth Master i. e. In point of Faith Give unto Caesar all that belongs to him yet so as still to have respect unto Christ as the Supreme Law giver 2. Submit to His Government Steer your course by His Councels and follow His Conduct Go after Him wherever He shall lead you Let all your sensâ—s have their Seat in your Head Let every thing be understood by you according to His sense and interpretation of it 3. Expose your self for Him Stand between Him and Wrongs Preserve His honour and Interest with the utmost hazard of your self Let life and death be as things indifferent to you so as Christ may be Magnified in you Phil. 1. 20. 4. Look to this your Head for supply of all Grace From His fulness it is to be had and No where else Therefore Hold to your Head lest Notions beguile you of your Reward Col. 2. v. 18 19. Be sure withall that you keep to your Place and Duty lest you miss of the Nourishment that belongs to you A Member out of its place is for the time as a Member cut off Joh. 154 5. 5. Adorn your Head by a constant Reaching at perfect Conformity to Him Shew forth His virtues Be holy as He was Let all your fruits be such as are meet for such a Root God the Father is the Head of Christ and ye know that He bore the express Image of His Person in all that He did He could do Nothing but what He saw the Father do So do you by your Head Christ Make Him your Example And in order thereto live upon Him as your immediate Root and give Him the honour of His own productions Then Carry it towards your Brethren as Members of the same Body 1. Usurp not upon them as if more than a fellow-member with them Judge not the Strong Nor despise the Weak Who made thee a Judge There 's none but hath need of forbearance from others and the less you see your need the more need you have of it 2. Intrude not into Anothers place and office Each Member hath its own to which it is fiâ—ted This it best becomes and here it will be most useful Elsewhere it would be both useless and a deformity as a finger or other Member if transposed and out of its own joynt 3. Shew your Co-membership by your love and tender regard towards others Heb. 5. 2. Have compassion on the Ignorant and those out of the way as your Head towards you If One be weak or Wounded let him that is Strong and Whole support and bind it up If one foot stumble let the other step in for its help Gal. 6. 1. Consider thy self lest thou also be tempted Members of the same Natural body need no Arguments to perswade to this duty they do it by Instinct And the want of Compassionateness in us towards others though it shall not dry up yet may much restrain at least in our apprehension the Springs of Christ's pity towards our Selves 4. Let the good of the whole have the preference before a particular part And let That of a lower use deny it self for the safety and assistance of That which is more Noble This in a degree is to lay down our life for the Brethren He that in these things serveth Christ is acceptable to God and approved of Men and a good evidence it is of your Membership